The Bangladesh Coast Guard in a raid in the deep sea area of St Martins in Cox’s Bazar early Sunday arrested 15 human traffickers and rescued 153 people, including women and children, held captive for the purpose of trafficking.

The Coast Guard said that a large number of people, including women and children, were in the deep sea area southwest of St Martins with the intention of trafficking them to Malaysia by sea, said a press release.

Based on the information received, a special operation was conducted in the sea area by the Coast Guard ship Kamruzzaman at 3:00am.

During the operation, the team signalled a suspicious boat to stop, but the boat ignored the signal and tried to flee, and the team chased the boat and was able to apprehend it in the area.

Later, the apprehended boat was searched and 153 victims were rescued and 15 human traffickers were arrested.

During interrogation of the rescuers, it was revealed that a few organised trafficking groups were planning to lure Bangladeshi and Rohingya citizens from different parts of the country, including Teknaf, to travel to Malaysia by sea, by offering them dreams of a better life abroad, high-paying jobs, and low-cost travel abroad.

Further legal action against the rescued people and the arrested human traffickers is under process.

The Coast Guard will continue such operations in the future to prevent human trafficking.